Your noon Briefing: Rents defy homes slump

Your 2-minute digest of the day’s top stories and a long read for lunchtime.

Hello readers. Rents are defying the housing market slide, and Cameron Stewart chronicles the reign of America’s prophets of pain.

A 'for rent' sign is seen outside a house in Canberra, Thursday, May 17, 2018. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch) NO ARCHIVING

Rents defy slump

Rents increased one per cent around the country in the first three months of the year, says CoreLogic.

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ABC chairman Ita Buttrose with managing director candidates (clockwise from top left) Darren Goodsir, Kate Torney, David Anderson and Michael Ebeid. Torney has ruled herself out of the running. Pictures: File

ABC boss shortlist finalised

There have been significant developments in the hunt for a new ABC managing director, writes Nick Tabakoff in Media Diary.

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Independent MP Julian Banks shows of some #Stop Adani earrings. https://twitter.com/juliabanksmpcaption'My team know I love earrings and that I want to #StopAdani - so they bought me these!Just like the Flinders community, we are all committed to #StopAdani and move Australia towards a renewable future. #ClimateElection #FlindersVotes #AusVotes2019'

Banks’ Adani ‘hypocrisy’

Julia Banks has been accused of hypocrisy over her new-found opposition to the Adani coal mine.

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The moment Samantha Cerio suffered the horror injury. Picture: Supplied

‘I think she may be hurt’

A gymnast retires after breaking both legs and dislocating her knees in a horror landing from a floor routine.

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FILE - This Feb. 19, 2013, file photo shows OxyContin pills arranged for a photo at a pharmacy, in Montpelier, Vt. The wealthy family who owns the company that makes OxyContin says Massachusetts got the facts wrong in a lawsuit. Legal papers made public Tuesday, April 2, 2019, represent the first time the Sackler family, who owns the Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma, has responded in court to allegations about its role in the opioid crisis. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot, File)

The long read: Prophets of pain

The US addiction to opioids is at the heart of a huge civil suit. Cameron Stewart reports.